


part iii: inescapable

by caritivereflection



Series: intangible [3]
Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Dark, Horror, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-11-13 03:50:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11176407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caritivereflection/pseuds/caritivereflection
Summary: adjective1.unable to be avoided or denied.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No. No, it’s not.”

Newt doesn’t sleep that night.

Or the next.

Gally’s taunting jabs and Alby’s forced concern do not phase him. The droning voices of nameless teachers lull him into an alternate world of not-sleep, not-consciousness, their faces blurring together with students, with staff, with his polished steel reflection in a lab table.

Words and images swirl in his mind as he stalks through the school halls and wet streets like a zombie, the heavy taste of ancient dust upon his tongue.

He is like something dead.

Like…

On the third night, lying in bed, Newt realizes his mind is not plagued by thoughts of his own demise.

He sleeps.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His voice is whisper loud.

_‘Ghost’ is simply the name given to a soul that does not pass on to the astral realm after death. The reasons why a spirit may remain earthbound are not fully understood. Paranormal experts theorize that spirits fail to move on because of a number of reasons. The spirit may feel that it has unfinished business upon earth, such as revenge, the revelation of a secret, or the protection of a loved one. They may choose not to move on to the astral plane, remaining in the earthly realm consciously and deliberately. They may be unaware of their passing. Finally, the spirit may be so traumatized by the nature or circumstances of their death that they cannot move forward._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stairs are cold through the soles of his shoes.

His lantern and knapsack are still in the farmhouse. On a Friday night, he raids the garage and finds an old beach bag. He fills it: Sleeping bag, flashlight, granola bars, bottles of water and Mountain Dew.

A book, _Spirits_.

It is part curiosity, part strange desire to seek out the abject fear that made him feel so alive.

That is something, he realizes, he has not felt in too long. Not since Sheffield, since before the move and, later, the New Life they were supposed to lead.

It is the first time in years that he does not feel the giant, festering hole inside of him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then, through the sting of newly forming tears,

_The way in which ghosts present are equally varied. The spiritual impression left can change in intensity, both between individual ghosts and throughout time in the same specimen. Some ghosts are mere translucent copies of their former living selves, echoing the final movements before their deaths, or perhaps a routine enjoyed in life. They may pass through walls, repeating routes walked. They may call for loved ones. They may play out the last moments of their lives, particularly in the case of those who met violent ends. These ghosts will typically be unaffected by the presence of new visitors, continuing on as if the world itself is frozen in time._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a hand smacks him between the shoulder blades.

The sky blushes at the growing night as he stops in front of the farm house. His tires kick up a veil of dust that fades away in the last haze of sunshine.

The shutters, once a vibrant red, are faded now.

The door, with its peeling whitewash, is ajar, and a long line of darkness separates it from the rest of the wood. Just as faded. Just as peeling.

Was it not open wide when he ran?

Was it simply the wind?

His kickstand digs into the soft earth.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And he stumbles, catches himself on the banister

_Other ghosts are more aware, capable of observing and, in strong cases, interacting with their environment. As is the case with their unaware cousins, these spirits are often bound to the earthly realm through a specific location, or, more rarely, an object. The location in question is almost always the site of the apparition’s death, though it may also be a significant place from their lives._

_Ability to affect the surrounding environment is limited. Audio or visual interaction is most common, with ghosts being heard or seen, and communicating intentionally and actively with the living. More rarely, spirits are capable of interacting with the material realm._

_Communication with these spirits in inadvisable due to unpredictability of strength._


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> feels splinters push into his palm and fingers.

Something thrums deep inside his chest as he inches toward the porch. It’s as if he were standing too close to an overpowered amplifier, blasting out the chords of a man who favored noise over harmony.

The only sounds, though, are the clicks of bats emerging into the crisp autumn night, the faint wind rustling through unkempt meadows, the song of dying cicadas.

His own footsteps on soft, cool dirt.

His quickly beating heart.

The bag slung across his chest feels impossibly heavy, pressing down into his lungs and forcing him to take only the barest, most shallow breaths.

It’s the bag, only, he promises himself as he pushes open the door, the hinges creaking into the night and silencing the bats, the wind, the cicadas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

_Case study 0431:_

_On July_ 14 _th 1993, _ twelve year old _Teresa Montgomery was sexually assaulted and murdered by an unknown assailant while home alone in the Montgomery family’s Atlanta residence. As if the tragic and untimely loss of their daughter wasn’t enough, the Montgomery parents, Leslie and Sal, began to experience odd apparitions in the weeks following Teresa’s death. They heard a child sobbing and items that belonged to Teresa would move with no other apparent explanation. This was written off as parental grief, and the Montgomery parents, unable to reside in the home in which their daughter was killed, soon sold the home and moved._

_Future homeowners reported similar incidents and it is this author’s opinion in light of extensive research that Teresa never truly left the Montgomery family home._


End file.
